Monthly Archives: May 2012

Character Contest 91: The Phantom ________

Note: Phantom Stranger is already taken so don't do it!

I'm going to try something a little different this week with our own HeroMachine version of Mad Libs. You'll have to fill in the following description for your character, replacing the blanks. For instance, the name is "The Phantom _______," so you'd replace the blanks with a word to name your character. You might go for "The Phantom PIRATE" or "The Phantom NINJA" or "The Phantom CHIPMUNK."

So here's your description. You don't have to do any of these except the character title, but it would be fun to play along if you are so inclined:

The Phantom _____!

Straight from the pages of _____ Comics, it's the _____-spangled adventurer! Along with sidekick "_____ the _____ Wonder ", racing through _____ City on the astounding _____-mobile, you won't believe what you see!

The person with the winning entry as selected by our expert panel (i.e. me) will win their choice of a) a portrait to go in HeroMachine 3, b) an item to go in HeroMachine 3, or c) a custom black and white "Sketch of the Day" style drawing (also by me). The rules otherwise are the same as always:

  • All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, whatever);
  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • The image cannot have been used in any previous HeroMachine character design contest;
  • Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
  • Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
  • All entries must be in by next Monday, when I'll choose a winner.

No limit on entries this week, so knock yourselves out. Just make them good!

Caption Contest 122 Winners

Thanks to everyone who shared their humor with us in Caption Contest 122! I picked out a dew of my favorite lines of replacement dialog for this comics panel:

  • RobM: “I hate rhythmic gymnastics.”
  • SongBird: Eat BLAM, Jazz Hands!
  • TOOL: Simon says DIE!
  • alphaalpharomeo: no, you don’t move like Jagger
  • Dr. Shrinker: Did somebody say, “BLAM?!?”
  • E350: Three shots in, five shots out. I love this gun.
  • Myro:
    “No, you’re not in the Matrix. I’ll prove it.”
    “Uh, Dave’s not here, man.”

And the winner is ... E350!

A lot of folks used the odd shot count (3 blams in, 4 blams out, yet 6 bullets exiting ... so I guess the math on the winning entry being off sort of makes sense), but I thought this one was phrased the best.

Congratulations, and thanks again to all who entered!

The Choosing of Robin, the untold story

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 1, 1941.)

Pop Quiz 10 Winners!

Many thanks to everyone who entered Pop Quiz 10, which challenged you to create a new cool character using one of the ones pictured in "Companions-Humanoid". I did have to disallow two entries, one for violating the Fantastic Four copyright and one for coming a little too far over the line for a Superman reference, sorry about that. I have to be a lot stricter about what I allow posted on my sites than you do on yours.

Regardless, here are your entries! Click on any one to start the slideshow.

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Pop Quiz: Companion Dress Up

Happy Saturday, people! Unless you're on the other side of the world in which case it's already Sunday. If so, drop us a line and let us know what the world is like in the fuuuuuuuture ... Ahem.

Your one-day quick-fire challenge is:

Dress Up a Humanoid Companion!

In other words, make a character illustration like you normally would, only the body has to be one of the items from Companion-Humanoids. You can do a little or a lot, but the Companion has to be the main character.

You only get one entry -- that's right, just one! So make it your best. Most of the other rules are the same as for a regular contest, but instead of a whole week I'll announce the winner either tonight or first thing in the morning.

  • All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, whatever);
  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
  • Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). Here's a quick-start guide on how to do that for various image hosting services.

The winner will receive their choice of either one item or one portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 release, or one Sketch of the Day style drawing where you pick the subject and I draw it how I like.

Good luck!

Never turn your back on Wrongway Pete …

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 1, 1941.)

Open Critique Day #39

My full-time (non-HeroMachine) job might keep me from actually getting to these before this afternoon, but it's time for another Open Critique Day!

If you have a HeroMachine illustration or another piece of artwork you've done that you'd like some help with, post a link to it in comments along with your thoughts on it -- what you think is working, what you're struggling with, etc. I will post my critique of the piece, hopefully giving some tips on how to improve it.

Of course everyone is welcome to post their critiques as well, keeping in mind the following guidelines:

  • Make sure your criticism is constructive. Just saying "This sucks" is both rude and unhelpful without giving specific reasons why you think it sucks and, ideally, some advice on how to make it better.
  • Each person should only post one illustration for critique to make sure everyone who wants feedback has a chance.
  • I will not critique characters entered in any currently running contest, as that doesn't seem fair to the other entrants. You can still post it if you like for the other visitors to critique, but I will not do so.

That's it! Hopefully we can get some good interaction going here and help everyone (me included!) learn a little bit today.

Plus Mashed Tater and Koleslaw!

(This one's a stretch, I admit. But I bet Sanders is a Colonel, and he's probably chicken. From "Target Comics" number 12, 1941.)

Thrusts of Justice

We had such fun with Matt Youngmark's Chooseomatic adventure "Zombocalypse Now" that I thought we should take a crack at his newest book, the super-hero themed "Thrusts of Justice". As usual, I'll post a few pages of the adventure and let you all collectively decide on what course of action we should take. Matt's a very funny, gifted writer and I am sure you'll get a kick out of these latest escapades. If you enjoyed trotting along after our zombie-confronting stuffed bunny, you'll love this one as well. And just like last time, you should go buy your own copy since we're only scratching the surface of the hilarity enshrined in these pages.

Without further ado, let's don our Clark Kent glasses and slip into our spandex Underoos, folks!

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When George Lucas wrote comics

(From "Let's Talk About Trade Agreements Then Beat Up CGI Robots Comics" ... no, wait, "Target Comics" number 12, 1941.)